A broken heart doesn’t mean the end of the world. In this short story compilation, Patrick, Toby and Andrew still continue to hope for and dream of their own happy ever after,

Someday With You

Five years ago, when they were teenagers in college, they’d made a pact to come back to this same spot, no matter where they were in the world, no matter who they had become. But five years wasn’t enough to erase the heartache Patrick felt when Andrea disappeared from his life, when he thought he’d lost her for good. And now that the time has come, he can’t keep the feelings from rushing back to the surface, possibly messing up his life once more.

One Last Thing

All Toby wants is to keep Angela from falling in love with someone else. That isn’t too much to ask considering he’s already won her over and she’s finally convinced he isn’t just another spoiled, rich boy. But when his buddy Jake enters the picture, Angela seems to be slipping away. Toby has to make the hardest decision of his life and that might even mean letting go.

Things I’ll Never Say

Andrew, Penny and Raffy aren’t what you call regular teenagers. They’re hugely popular models of hot, teen clothing brand Pineapple Slice. Though all three have become celebrities in their own right. Fans passionately ship Penny and Raffy (with a hashtag to match). What nobody knows is that Andrew has been in love with Penny ever since he heard her laugh at one of his lame jokes. So when she tells him she wants out of their charmed existence, he starts to panic. But he also wonders if this is his chance to claim the happy ending he’a always hoped for.

My thoughts:

First, it’s an Ines Bautista-Yao book. That’s more than enough for me to read this.

Second, I love that these stories are in the male POV. I rarely encounter stories written entirely in this POV, and when I do, I get really interested because they feel like opportunities to understand how guys think. Plus, these stories have instant book boyfriends.

Three, I have mini-reviews for the stories. My favorite story is One Last Thing. Read on to know why.

Someday With You

When I read Patrick’s story, I thought of earthquakes and aftershocks and my heart which was in a state of calamity months ago.

I hate it when feelings resurface. It’s like going through an earthquake and thinking you already survived only to face the cruel aftershocks. It’s the aftershocks that kill you, actually. Because you’re never prepared for them. They come when you already feel safe.

Patrick’s story is about waiting – waiting for his feelings to go away, waiting for Andrea, waiting for the conflict in his heart to be resolved, and waiting for you to know how it feels like.

One Last Thing

THIS. This became my favorite story the moment I read that line that completely turned the story around. I had to pause for a while to process what was happening, and when it hit me-

It hit me hard.

Toby’s story is about letting go. If Patrick made me relive the time I was fighting my way through a disaster, Toby made me reminisce what it was like to heal. It was a slow and painful process, but every step taught me lessons I’ll never forget. Like Toby, I had a lot of questions. There were endless whys, and countless times when I felt totally lost, but my breakdowns made me realize what was important.

It’s important to take it easy on myself. It’s important to accept what happened and move forward. It’s important to understand that the hardest journeys yield the best rewards. And like Ms. Ines, I am happy with how Toby’s story turned out.

Things I’ll Never Say

Andrew’s story is like an exclusive behind-the-scenes feature on your favorite artists. It reminded me of Famous in Love, Unscripted Joss Byrd, and My Unscripted Life. The people we look up to are humans like us. They may seem perfect on photo shoots, interviews, and guestings, but they go through the same dilemmas, the same heartbreaks, and the same life drama that we experience in our day-to-day lives. The only difference is that cameras want to capture every single thing that’s going on. And once the seemingly perfect people defy expectations, their shiny images shatter. The fame starts to fade, and this is when we realize that they want our lives as much as we want theirs.

This story is a sweet reminder to be honest with our feelings. It’s not an easy task, and for some people, the hardest part is admitting to themselves how they truly feel, but there comes a point in your life when you realize that it’s better to have said everything than nothing at all.

The best stories are the ones you connect with, so I give this collection five stars for showing me how much I’ve grown after everything that I’ve been through.